1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to animal decoys and, more particularly, to devices and systems using sight to attract animals to an area for hunting, catching, pest control, population counting purposes and the like. Specifically, the present invention relates to a lure device and system for attracting animals based on fractal geometry and animal color perception.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Lure or decoy devices have long been used by hunters, as well as other entities, to attract animals to the same area or vicinity as the decoy. This significantly enhances the odds of finding and/or catching the desired prey. Such decoys or lures have been used for attracting a wide variety of animals including big game animals such as ungulates, waterfowl, fish, animal pests such as coyotes, and the like. In addition to hunting, other applications for such lures or decoys have included pest control, animal population counting, wildlife photography or observation, and wild game management.
Typically, such lures or decoys attempt to visually represent in some manner the targeted or desired animal as seen by humans. For example, fishing lures utilize color, size, movement and scent in an attempt to duplicate small bait fish appearance and movement through water. Examples of such devices include those illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,028, U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,699, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,376. Other such examples include waterfowl decoys such as illustrated in U.S. design Pat. No. D339,402 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,028.
Decoys and lures for big game animals have also been designed in much the same way. Some of these devices attempt to visually represent the side profiles of all or a portion of these animals such as illustrated in U.S. design Pat. No. D505,990 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,132. Other prior art devices attempt to use both the visual representation coupled with movement and/or sound. Examples of such devices wherein deer tail flags of various designs are displayed and coupled with mechanisms for moving them include those illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,408, U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,438, U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,692 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,510,644.
While some of these devices have proven to be effective in certain instances, they are all based on attempts to duplicate actual profile patterns and colors of the targeted animal as they occur in nature and as they are perceived by humans. They are based on the assumption that animals see and view their own kind in the same manner as human beings view animals. Unfortunately, this is just not the case in that the color spectrum perceived by animals is very different from the color spectrum perceived by humans. As a result, the lures and decoys that presently exist are only marginally effective in actually attracting animals to a specific location. Thus, there remains a need for lure and decoy devices and systems which incorporate colors and profiles that are noticeable and attractive to animals and are based on the animal's own color perceptions and visual reactive behavior. Therefore, there remains a need in the art for such a device and system, and the present invention addresses and solves this particular problem.